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Serial Killer Corner: Marcus Wesson

He forced his family not into only incestuous acts, but also into a cult of his own making. When the police intervened, he upgraded to killer.

By Catherine MacKenziePublished 2 years ago 4 min read
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Marcus Wesson

In all my research, I have found very little in the way of black mass/serial killers (or cult leaders for that matter), so Marcus Wesson is an interesting case in that he deters from the 'norm' in this category.

Wesson has been coined as Fresno California's worse mass murderer in the city's history.

In 2004, not only did he kill all nine of his children, but they were each of them products of incestuous abuse.

Wesson Children

Wesson believed himself to be (like most of the crazy-ass religious cult leader) the messiah, and in so believing this, molded into a cult-like patriarch (within his family).

Born in Kansas in 1946, his mother was a religious extremist, while his father was an abusive alcoholic. Upon the family's move to California, Wesson became a high school drop-out and joined the Army. His time in the service was the only stable job he would ever have.

After a stint in Europe, he left the Army once he was rotated back into the States.

Wesson met a woman, Rosemary Solorio. She was married with an eight-year-old daughter, Elizabeth. With whatever power of persuasion he possessed, convinced her to leave her husband and the Rosemary, Wesson and Rosemary's children all moved in together.

In 1974 Wesson and Rosemary had a son, while at the same time was grooming Elizabeth, telling the girl that God had selected her to be his wife. It was in this year that Wesson 'married' a twelve-year-old Elizabeth, holding a 'ceremony' in their home.

By the time she reached age fifteen, she was pregnant. It was then that he married legally. Eventually Elizabeth would give birth to ten of his children (one dying in infancy) Note the picture above

In spite of the growing number of mouths to feed, Wesson had no occupation. Instead, he survived off welfare and, once the children got old enough, forced them to work while he kept the wages they earned.

Moving frequently, the skipped between shacks, houses that were vacant (so basically squatting), and even the occasional boat. They scavenged food where they could find it...

Wesson had complete control over his family, home-schooling the kids, and read from a hand-made bible in which Jesus was a vampire. (I'm not a religious person myself, but a vampire? Anyway...) And eventually brainwashed all his children into believing that he was an incarnation of God.

The children were forced to call him 'Master' or 'Lord', teaching them that they were all to become his wives.

Now believe it or not, not even Wesson's extended family knew what was going on during this whole time. His sibling's even, on several occasions, had allowed Wesson to watch their own kids, while all this was going on.

Marcus Wesson took great diligence in keeping the boys separated from the boys, as he was concerned that the boys would take after him and his incestuous ways.

Now the boys were quartered in a shack that was less than stellar, while the girls were put in a boat.

Whenever a daughter (or even a niece) would reach age seven, Wesson would hold another 'ceremony' in his home. Each of his five 'wives' would end up having his children.

Wesson Children

Wesson, rightfully paranoid, was also preparing the children for the apocalypse, telling them that on a daily basis that people were going to try and stop them. He taught them that police officers were demons that were coming to hurt them.

He taught them that if the police ever tried to break in that they were to fight back, defend the family, defend their god.

They were not permitted to speak to anyone outside the family, with a severe beating as punishment for disobeying this rule. Whenever the family went out into town, they were forced to walk single file behind Wesson, each wearing black robes and not permitted to look anywhere but at the ground.

Even with these conditions, the few children that did make it to adulthood, never reported what he was doing. We can speculate as to why. Fear. Brainwashing. These things can do much to a person's psyche, especially if the person is exposed to it from early childhood.

It was on March 12, 2004, when many of the family members revolted against Wesson. Inside the home of the Wesson family, two nieces were being held who were being/had been abused be Marcus. When he refused to allow the girl's to leave, the police were called.

Upon seeing the police, Wesson ran inside, refusing to come out when demanded by the police. Consulting a city attorney proved fruitless in their attempts to gain the right to enter the house. They did not.

Two members of the family burst out from the front door suddenly, shouting that Wesson had a gun.

It was then that the SWAT team was called onto the scene. Seconds after their arrival, Wesson stepped out of the house with blood dripping from his hair, hands, and clothes, put his hands in the air, and surrendered.

Inside the house the police found a horrific scene: the nine bodies of the Wesson family, ranging in ages from one to twenty-five.

Each one, two of Wesson's daughters, children of his daughters, and his nieces, were slumped, dead in one of the bedrooms where each one had been shot through the eye. Along the walls were ten antique coffins.

Wesson was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for the nine murders of his family.

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About the Creator

Catherine MacKenzie

I write about murders, and murderers. I write of thoughts, confusions, victories, defeats. Of love gained and love lost. Of life in all its multi-faceted glory.

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